Inclined thread eye for loom shuttles



Dec. 24, 1940.

R. G. TURNER INCLINED THREAD EYE FOR LOOM SHUTTLES Filed May 3. 1939INVENTOR RIGHARD G. TURNER ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 24, 1940 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE INC-LINED THREAD EYE Foa LooM SHUTTLES Application May 3,1939, Serial'No. 271,545

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in loom shuttles and it is thegeneral object of the inven-l tion to provide a shuttle having theadvantages of a pull-back tension and a low delivery eye at 5 the pointwhere the thread leaves the shuttle.

Pull-back shuttle tensions customarily employ a pivoted wire providedwith several thread receiving loops together with fixed pins locatedbetween the loops when the pivoted wire swings tol ward the pins. Theaxis of the bobbin is ordinarily located approximately one-half waybetween the top and bottom of the shuttle, and this requires that thethread must enter some part of the shuttle eye which is close to theaxis of the 15 bobbin to insure even unwinding. The first loop of thepivoted wire is therefore placed approximately half way between the topandthe bottom of the shuttle, but as heretofore made the wire.

has b en su stan auy horizontal s0, thatthe out- 20 ermost loop is atthe same level as the loop first engaging the weft, or in other words,the outer loop is also close to the axis of the bobbin. By

this former construction the delivery eye of the shuttle is midway upthe front wall.

25 In the weaving of certain types of yarnV-it'is desirable to preventthe thread from being pinched between the binder and the front wall butwith the relatively high delivery eye it is necessary to use a rathernarrow binder which en'- 30 gages the top half only of the shuttle wall.With the shuttle checking problems incident to high speeds it isdesirable to increase the checking area without pinching the fillingbetween the binder and the shuttle. It is a further object of 35 mypresent invention to provide a shuttle with an inclined pull-backtension wire together with vertical delivery eye posts toward which thethread is led from the inclined tension and from which the threadextends toward the cloth. The range of movements of the swingingpull-back tension are limited to a zone which lies between the top andbottom of the guide posts and the thread therefore always engages somepart of the post which is smooth and at a suflicient distance from 45the adjacent body of the shuttle to prevent en.-

tanglement and breaking. 7

Certain features of the shuttle eye to be described hereinafter aresimilar to those set forth in my co-pending application Serial No.185,936.

.- 9 With these and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, my invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein a convenient embodiment of myinvention is set forth:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a shuttle box and shuttle made according to mypresent invention,

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of part of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line 4 -4, Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the tension unit,

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the pair of thread guards formingpart of the delivery eye,

and I 10 Fig. '7 is a transverse vertical section on line Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing, the loom lay I0 is provided with a shuttle boxdesignated generally at B and having a box back H and a binder I2. Theshuttle has back and front walls M and I5, respectively, to engage thebox back and binder, respectively. The latter preferably has the lowerinner or rear surface thereof undercut as at 28 to provide a passage forthe thread from the outer end of the shuttle shown at the right of Fig.1 to the left toward the cloth not shown. The thick upper part 2| of thebinder has a vertical rear surface 22 to engage and check the shuttle asthe latter is boxed. 25

The, shuttle comprises a body having a weft compartment 3| in which islocated a weft carrier .32 mounted in the present instance on a spindle33. The details of the mounting may be varied but should be such as tokeep the axis of 30 the weft carrier substantially horizontal when theshuttle is weaving and preferably in line with the axis of the shuttle.The weft W on the carrier may be wound so as to have a conical endfacing the eye end ofthe shuttle and from which the 35 thread isunwrapped as it is drawn to the left as viewed in Fig. 1. During theunwinding the thread passes around the tip'36 of the carrier in theusual manner, and in certain positions is resisted more by the tip 36than in other positions. 40 That part of the shuttle thus far describedmay be of common construction and of itself forms no part of my presentinvention.

In carrying my invention into effect I form the shuttle with a tensionslot. or compartment 40 which extends transversely through the shuttlebody. The top and bottom walls M and 42, respectively, of thecompartment are substantially parallel and are inclined downwardly andtoward the adjacent end of the shuttle. Within this slot or compartmentI locate a tension unit carrier 45 having top and bottom plates 46 and41, respectively, and having a comparatively long end wall 48 which fitsagainst the outer lower end 49 of the weft compartment. The inner edgeof the carrier is cut away to define a notch at the sides of which arefront and back short walls 5| and 52, respectively, which abutcorresponding parts of the shuttle body 53. The notch 50 may be formedas indicated in Figs. 3 and 5 by removing a portion of the top andbottom plates. The shuttle body is similarly provided with a notch atthe left end of the weft compartment as viewed in Fig. 1. When the unitcarrier is in place in the shuttle the notch 56 aligns vertically withthe corresponding notch 55 in the shuttle body to define a tapered endof the weft compartment toward which the weft is led as it unwinds.

A pin 60 extends between and is secured to the top and bottom plates 46and 41 of the unit carrier and has pivoted thereon a swinging tensionmember 6| formed preferably of wire and having a bearing 62 to surroundthe pin 60 and from which projects a finger hold 63. In the presentinstance I form the tension member with three eyes or loops 65, 66 and61, respectively. In order to hold the unit carrier in the shuttle Iprovide the top and bottom plates thereof with holes 69 one of which isshown for instance at Fig. 5 and pass through these holes a retainingscrew 10 which may be somewhat inclined as indicated in Fig. 4. Thisscrew passes through the unit carrier into the lower part of the shuttlebody and serves to prevent movement of the carrier 45 in a transversedirection in slot 40. An elastic 12 has one end thereof secured to thescrew 10 and the other end is attached as at 13 to the outer end of thetensioning member 6|. By turning the screw 10 the tension of the elastic12 can be altered. The normal effect of the elastic is to hold the unit6| in the dotted position indicated in Fig. 1 with the axes of the eyes65, 66 and 61 substantially parallel to the axis of the shuttle. Thislast relationship is not essential but I have found it convenient.

Extending between and secured to the top and bottom plates 46 and 41 area pair of spaced tension pins 15 and 16 which are so located as to liebetween the eyes or loops on the tension member 6| when the latter isswung from its normal position in a counter-clockwise direction aroundits pivot 60 to some such position as indicated in Fig. 3. These pins 15and 16 are fixed and cooperate with the eyes on the tension unit 6| totake up or tension the weft when the elastic 12 retracts the tensionmember 6| to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

The thread is delivered from the shuttle between a pair of spaced eyepins and 8| which are secured vertically in the shuttle as indicated inFig. 2. These pins cross the tension unit compartment 40 and havealternate engagement with the weft as the shuttle moves from one side tothe other of the loom during the weaving operation.

In order to prevent the thread from being caught between the shuttlebody and the ends of the eye pins 80 and 8| I may provide guards 86 asindicated in Fig 6. Each guard will have a tapered end 86 and a curvedvertical wall 81. The bottom and top plates are recessed as at 88 forthe accommodation of the guards and the height of the wall 81 is equalto the vertical dis tance between the top and bottom walls of thetension unit compartment 40. As indicated in Fig. 2 each of the eye pins80 and 8| has a curved wall 81 extended partly therearound and thetapered ends 86 are so disposed that their adjacent edges 90 aresubstantially horizontal. By

loop 65.

this arrangement the delivery eye designated at E in Fig. 3 is definedby the vertical posts 80 and 8| and the horizontal edges 90, therebyproviding a thread delivery eye of substantially rectangular form asshown in Fig. 2.

In operation, the swinging member 6| is normally in the dotted positionof Fig. 1, but will be moved manually against the action of the elastic12 by means of finger hold 63 so that the straight portion thereof willlie against the pins 15 and 16. A threading hook of common constructionis then passed through the delivery eye E and the aligned eyes 61, 66and 65 into the weft compartment 3| to receive the weft W, after whichthe hook is pulled back out of the delivery eye E, thereby threading thetension unit and delivery eye. When released the swinging member movesto normal position, the screw 10 acting as a stop to limit angularmotion of the member 6| in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig.1. Thethread is then disposed in zigzag form by the loops and fixed tensionpins as shown in Fig. 1.

During weaving the tension on the weft will move the member 60 towardthe fixed pins 15 and 16, thereby shortening the path of the weftthrough the tension unit. When the shuttle comes to rest excess weft istaken up by movement of the member 6| away from the fixed pins 15 and16.

As previously stated, it is desirable that the thread move toward thetension unit along a line closely paralleling and preferably coincidentwith the axis of the shuttle, and this relationship requires that thefirst loop 65 to be entered by the weft shall be approximately half waybetween the top and bottom of the shuttle, or in line with the shuttleand bobbin axes. During the passage of the weft through the tension unit6|, however, it has a generally downward direction so that it emergesfrom the last loop 61 in a position lower than that which it had whenentering the first The delivery eye E can therefore be locatedcomparatively low in the shuttle with assurance that the thread will liebelow the surface 22 of the binder and the latter can be madesubstantially wider than half the height of the front shuttle wall. Thefact that the eye posts 80 and 8| are vertical insures maintenance of ahorizontal position of the weft as the latter leaves the shuttle andmoves toward the cloth without tendency for the thread to creep up ordown on the posts.

The pivot pin 681's perpendicular to the plates 46 and 41 and thereforeinclined, with the result that the loop 61 has a slight rise and fall asmember 6| swings. The range of this vertical motion, however, is limitedand keeps the thread usually in contact with the intermediate parts ofthe posts 80 and 8|. I do not Wish to be limited to the inclined pivot60, however, since the advantages of my invention are not dependent uponthe position of pivot 60 as shown herein.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a. shuttleincluding a pivoted multilooped member which swings in a plane inclineddownwardly and toward the adjacent end of the shuttle for the purpose ofdelivering the weft thread at a point lower than that at which it isreceived by the swinging member. The resultant lowered position of thedelivery eye makes it possible to use a binder having a relatively wideshuttle engaging surface 22. It will also be seen that the posts 80 and8| are vertical for the purpose of maintaining the weft in asubstantially horizontal position without tendency to creep toward thetop or bottom of the posts. Furthermore, the guard arms 86 prevent theweft from having direct contact with the body of the shuttle.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes andmodifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wishto be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

In a. weft shuttle having a bobbin supply with a horizontal axis, a wefttension carrier extending transversely of the shuttle and having spacedtop and bottom walls both of which are inclined downwardly and towardthe adjacent end of the shuttle, a tension member pivoted to the carrierand having spaced thread receiving loops movable between the walls, atension pin fixed with respect to the carrier and located intermediatethe loops, and a delivery eye for the shuttle below said axis, thepivoted tension member swinging in a plane and extending in a directioninclined downwardly toward the adjacent end of the shuttle, the loop ofthe member adjacent the Weft supply being substantially in alignmentwith the said horizontal axis and receiving the weft directly from theweft supply, and the loop nearest the adjacent end of the shuttle beingin a lower position and below said axis, said loopsand tension membercooperating to direct the Weft in a downwardly inclined sinuous pathfrom the axis toward said delivery eye.

RICHARD G. TURNER.

